Four New Ways to Turn Your Wine into a Cocktail

Mixing wine and liquor has a bad rap—perhaps you've heard that old adage, "Grape or grain, but never the twain”? It implies the mix of wine and grain-based spirits is sure to induce a hangover, but it’s a cutesy-rhymey sentiment that is a bit outdated. You know what induces a hangover? Drinking too much. Combining wine and spirits in cocktail form is actually a fantastic idea—in moderation—and can be a great way to use up a stray bit of liquor, or a bottle of wine that isn't particularly a stunner on its own. Bartenders are big fans of the genre, too—so we asked them to recommend their favorites. Catch them below, then head to your bar cart and start mixing.

The New York Sour

This classic cocktail—essentially a whiskey sour with a red wine floater—was the most recommended wine cocktail by far. Sevan Araneda of Last Rites in San Francisco calls it his "go-to” and recommends “Cabernet, Zinfandel, or a heavy Malbec” for the floater. (Again, a good way to use up a bottle of beefy red you may not be dying to drink on its own at cocktail hour.) Alex Fletcher at Harlowe MXM in Dallas likes to make them with Tempranillo, while Eric Mattimore of Pizza Lupo in Louisville changes things up with a splash of dry Lambrusco. The drink works, says Jon Howard of Henley in Nashville, because “the added tannin and dryness of the wine really plays well with the other components of the drink.”

Sangria

There’s no one recipe for sangria, of course, and bartenders love riffing on the classic wine punch. Adam Chapman of Gibson in San Francisco makes two versions: a red sangria with dark berry-infused mezcal, and a pink variation with rosé and grapefruit peel. If you've ever considered infusing your own booze, this is a good reason to start. Sean Stangle of Estiatorio Milos in Las Vegas also uses rosé for his “upscale twist on sangria,” which combines the wine with mint, fresh peppercorn syrup, and Absolute Citron.

White Wine Cocktails

“I really enjoy a Kir,” says James Nelson of BLT Prime in Washington, DC. It’s “a crisp, still white wine with Crème de Cassis—it’s really important to use a very high-quality French Cassis.” He also switches it up with Framboise (araspberry liqueur) or Crème de Pêche instead of the cassis.

Katylen Kupiec of etc. and Etch in Nashville goes a different route, with a cocktail she and her husband make at home: “This is going to sound ridiculous, but the Southern classic known as a Spodie Odie.” She describes it as “Cheap white wine, soda water, and fruit (sometimes fruit juice)” and plays it up at the restaurant “with Sauvignon blanc, fresh citrus, lemongrass syrup, harissa cranberries, and soda water.” Go highbrow or lowbrow—we won't judge either way.

Red Wine Cocktails

Jeremy Allen of MiniBar Hollywood enjoys a red riff on a Kir, using cold red burgundy: “So obvious that it’s genius, it was right there all the time!” He also swaps cold red wine for the vermouth in a Negroni.

Dzu Nguyen of Horsefeather in San Francisco goes for a Spanish classic, the Kalimotxo: “I never thought that the combination of red wine and cola would work, but it really does! There is something sublime in the balance of an oaky red with the slight astringency of the cola.”